


Hannibal re-watch drabble collection

by Weconqueratdawn



Category: Hannibal (TV)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Canon-Typical Violence, Character Study, Drabble Collection, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-10
Updated: 2016-09-06
Packaged: 2018-06-01 11:39:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 1,500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6517105
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Weconqueratdawn/pseuds/Weconqueratdawn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>My collection of drabbles for the Hannibal re-watch challenge - originally posted on my tumblr</p><p>weconqueratdawn.tumblr.com</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Aperitif

A crumpled tissue, carelessly discarded on the pristine glass surface of the table.

The scales in Hannibal’s mind tipped, re-balancing, and he left them to settle before continuing. Franklyn was pathetic and the lion within scented prey, but his thoughtlessness could be overlooked, for now. 

Of more immediate concern was his distasteful tendency to languish in showy self-pity. His deference to Hannibal’s opinion was correct but little effort was expended on the real work of therapy. Instead Franklyn sought attention through his neuroses.

Hannibal could foresee a time when, one way or another, Franklyn would no longer remain a patient.

*****

The flight home was mercifully quiet. Just a couple more hours, then he’d be home. All he had to do was not think.

Instead he focused on the mechanical sounds of the plane and the dull roar of the cabin pressurisation system. How the cabin altitude was programmed to gradually rise to protect both fuselage and passengers. How he sat in a little pressurised bubble, protected and contained, surrounded by the dark, cold sky. With the cabin lights dimmed, he could almost pretend to be in a boat on the sea, gently rocking on the waves.

He took another aspirin.


	2. Amuse-Bouche

Applause rose in waves around him as Will entered the lecture hall. Head down, he walked faster to the podium. 

Anger and frustration bit. Could they not see how distasteful this was? To applaud when a girl lay in hospital and two people were dead? His students were meant to be the best, the most suitable candidates for the FBI, and this is how they behaved. Maybe they should screen for a sense of decency.

“Please, stop that.” It rang out across the auditorium.

He didn’t want their applause . He didn’t want to know their opinion of him at all. 


	3. Potage

The hush of the lecture hall was almost sacred - a reverent respect for knowledge and learning. At the centre stood Will, silhouetted by the image on-screen - a sunlit field, the body mounted and displayed - teaching his congregation all he knew of madness and murder. 

Hannibal watched, beyond fascinated. He was aware Will’s understanding was impressive, but the reluctant appreciation he expressed was promising. How deep did those roots go? The leap to the phone call was a brilliant, personally threatening insight.

Will Graham was an unknown quantity, a dangerous situation with potential for them both. Hannibal smiled, anticipating the challenge.


	4. Oeuf

When Hannibal thought about Will Graham, he thought about that boat on the sea he’d described. How, unlike most people, it wasn’t being inside his little house looking out that made him feel safe. Domesticity held no draw for him, the warm hearth of the home did not provide that particular comfort.

It was being outside, in the dark void, looking back.

To stand apart in the wild darkness and observe, to know that what lay in front of him was his. This is where he felt safe. Hannibal wondered what it would be like to stand together with him.


	5. Coquilles

Hannibal knew intimately the influences, pressures and experiences which created each mind, and continued to recreate it daily. To disentangle the endless puzzle of how every individual came to be and what they might become was a game of skill. Each day Will Graham was of greater interest, and his latent potential was thrilling.

But now Will’s diagnosis was a new variable to re-evaluate him by. It was impossible to tell how much of the Will he knew was inflamed brain tissue, yet the gift of deciding what should be done about it had come to him all the same.


	6. Entree

Will drew in a tight breath through the tense cage of his ribs. Outside, the hospital looked exactly as he expected - neo-classical and gothic features lending grandeur to its blank, unreadable facade. The shadow which had stalked him for as long as he could remember made real.

The whispers had echoed through his childhood and beyond. Although he and his father moved frequently they never travelled quite far enough to escape. He wasn’t supposed to know about the rumours - never even asked if they were true.

_They say he takes after his mother, and you know where she ended up._


	7. Sorbet

As always, Bedelia’s insight had no rival. ‘A human veil’ was close to the truth, though Hannibal held that artifice was more meaningful than something in it’s natural state. The veil both refined and insulated - an elegant obstruction which could yet speak eloquently of what lay behind it.

It seemed probable that someone like Will Graham could comprehend the things it uttered. Hannibal thought often of this - the potential for danger and the desire for communion combined for an interesting state of affairs. He would tread the path of friendship carefully. To be understood and appreciated was worth the risk.


	8. Fromage

“Can you drive?” Will had asked. 

Now Will stood awkwardly in his kitchen. Rather than scaling walls, Will was unknowingly, but unerringly, stumbling through Hannibal’s labyrinth. 

“My usual level of hospitality is somewhat beyond me tonight. But I hope that won’t prevent you from staying?”

“What might prevent me is concern that this is somehow my doing.”

“I am a source of stability for you. And now you’ve seen me vulnerable.”

Will shifted, restless, his bandaged arm held protectively at his side. 

Approaching, Hannibal asked, “May I? When a friend is wounded it is natural that we should hurt also.”


	9. Trou Normand

In happened first in high school. Concerned about his behaviour in boisterous classrooms and crowded corridors, a psychological assessment was recommended. They asked questions about his homelife. Was he happy? Did he feel safe?

Eventually they brought his father in - to discuss Will’s options, they said. Will knew it was his father who was being assessed, not him.

Will couldn’t get them to understand. Being poor didn’t equal neglect - his home was a refuge. His father taught him useful skills which quieted his mind. Seeing his father’s face as realisation dawned, Will wished he could be the son he deserved.


	10. Buffet Froid

Outside, in the hospital parking lot, Will came to a standstill. Hannibal’s car was just a few feet away yet he found he couldn’t stand to climb inside and drive away.

Hannibal was beside him; his hand within grasping distance of Will’s. He stood silently, unmoving and patient. Giving Will space, but near enough for comfort.

The temptation to seek it pulled at him. To be enveloped in borrowed confidence, the warm scratch of wool under his palms. _Another clutch for balance._ Will’s laugh was choked and bitter as he swung his body away from Hannibal and towards the car.


	11. Roti

From the foot of his hospital bed, Will looked like any other unconscious patient. Adrift. Out of reach, and waiting for the tide to turn.

His chart confirmed what the doctor had told Hannibal. The fever was receding and, to the best of Hannibal’s knowledge, had not risen above 105. Will’s brain was out of danger and the infection yet not so advanced to have harmed it.

It would be a great shame if the fire within him destroyed, rather than purified. But had it burned long enough to reveal the bones of Will’s true self?

Hannibal waited; curious, hoping.


	12. Releves

It was Hannibal’s expression that sealed it. Remorse, regret, a hint of shame. Sorrow too, of course. Jack knew recognition of culpability when he saw it. Understood why Hannibal had tried so hard to protect Will, and believed that he could.

He’d known there was more to their relationship than met the eye - had been ready to overlook it. It had been hard enough to find someone Will would trust with his thoughts. He’d been remiss to do so. Will was still his responsibility, no matter how much Hannibal cared for him.

And now Will was lost to them both.


	13. Savoureux

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bit of a gap since the last one! I'm hopelessly behind on the rewatch, but shall persevere at my own pace :)

A door slams distantly, and slow steady footsteps follow. They echo along the corridor, heralding his arrival. Towards Will. He should have heard them for weeks, coming for him.

Who else could it be, after all? Only the devil himself possesses more assurance, more poise.

Will is filled with calm; a raging icy determined calm. He will greet him. They are equals now. Each will look upon the other and know.

He stands and Hannibal’s eyes fasten upon him. They are cold with interest, with greed.

Will sees, and understands. This is not convenience, a simple framing.

This is obsession.


	14. Kaiseki

Time would not pass as it should. It was an unfortunate irony.

His office was precisely as he liked it best - dark, comfortable, ordered. A perfect setting for reflection, and ideal to pass an hour at the day’s end. All should be harmony and shadow.

Except tonight time had snagged, caught on the barbs of expectation. A reflex merely, but nevertheless troubling. Matters had concluded satisfactorily, yet there was a gap, an appointment unfilled. Something unnamed quivered in his mind and shone with singularity.

Across from him, it gathered and took shape, a negative space where Will Graham should be.


End file.
